The blind villain of the academy

Chapter 270

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Episode 70 - Limbo [2]

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Blood kept pouring from my mouth. My airways had been blocked, and my lungs were filling with blood.

On top of that, the spear had disappeared, leaving behind a massive hole large enough for a human head to fit through.

At that moment, my thoughts went completely blank. I "looked" directly into Rinna’s eyes, but...

’N-no, this wasn’t her will.’

I could tell easily. Only the arm where the magic circle had appeared seemed completely rigid, as if it were being controlled by someone else.

"....!?"

Suddenly, tears welled up in Rinna’s eyes. They were wide open, unable to hide the shock she was feeling.

Her expression reflected a mixture of emotions, while her outstretched hand trembled violently.

".....!"

As for me, I simply "looked" at her tears.

Honestly, it was the first time someone had ever cried for me.

Though it was also the first time I had ever been this badly injured.

As I "watched" the tears roll down her cheeks, I managed to speak.

"Cough...!!! It’s... N-no, it’s not your fault..."

I forced a faint smile as I "looked" into her eyes and quietly called her name.

"Rinna..."

"....?!"

Perhaps upon hearing my words, Rinna’s tears began to fall even harder, and her expression completely changed.

She began crawling toward me, but then I shifted my attention and turned my head.

Hundreds of meters away, an old man was smiling as blood covered his entire body.

"..."

Realizing who had caused all of this, I clenched my teeth tightly, the veins on my forehead bulging.

It was the first time I had ever felt such intense hatred toward someone.

So much so that, as I extended my hand...

’Gravity.’

I activated my Unique Trait: Gravity.

The Pope’s expression changed instantly. The smile vanished from his face, replaced by fear and terror.

Then I clenched my fist.

The next second, the Pope’s body distorted from every direction.

Every part of his body began to shatter, without even giving him the chance to scream in pain or agony.

His head was completely crushed beneath the overwhelming pressure of Gravity.

His body simply tore apart until it became unrecognizable. What had looked like an old man only seconds ago could no longer even be identified as human.

’Y-you fucking bastard... I-if only... I-I weren’t dying, I’d kill you so damn easily.’

I would tear apart every part of his body while he was still alive.

However, immediately after thinking that, all the strength left my legs.

I fell backward.

’I’m tired.’

I was sleepy.

The only reason I had been able to find the Pope was because of my intuition.

But now, even that intuition seemed to be fading along with my consciousness.

The sounds around me gradually began to fade.

My consciousness was slipping away, and with it, all the noise surrounding me.

And, just before I closed my eyes, I heard Rinna’s voice.

Then, all of a sudden, I heard the scream of someone completely unexpected.

"A-Adel... N-no, please, don’t go..."

"Damn it, Adel, wake up."

The last voice belonged to none other than Veronica.

As I closed my eyes, I thought:

’How are you here?’

Unconsciously, I formed a faint smile.

Unconsciously, I formed a faint smile, thinking that even after I died, that idiot would still come around to pull one of her jokes.

I didn’t understand why I had thought of that.

But it didn’t matter anymore.

I hadn’t even had the chance to recover my memories, discover my true identity, and, above all...

What would happen to Astrid, the only family I have in this life?

’How pitiful...’

My consciousness completely faded away.

And, in the very last moment, all I could feel was how pitiful my situation was.

***

The sound of the tides.

The cold sea breeze.

The chill of the night, cold enough to freeze anyone to the bone.

".....!"

I suddenly opened my eyes and looked around in confusion.

’I’m not dead.’

I looked at my hands.

And, for some reason, this time, I could see.

So I observed my surroundings.

I was sitting on the trunk of a tree in the middle of an enormous beach, with the sea only a few meters away.

The waves came and went as the cold night breeze chilled my body.

However...

Crackle!

The sound of burning firewood, accompanied by the warmth of a campfire, drew my attention.

Only then did I realize something.

"....!"

Seven people were sitting in front of me.

They chatted with one another as if they were the best of friends while cooking fish skewers over the fire.

However, for some reason, their faces were far too blurry.

And they weren’t the only ones.

If I looked toward a certain distance along the beach, toward the forest, or even out at the sea, I could see a strange mist that blurred everything around me.

’Is this... a memory?’

A memory that wasn’t mine.

And yet, the entire scene felt strangely familiar.

’The memory of one of my past lives.’

As I observed my surroundings, my gaze naturally drifted toward the sky.

And the moment I saw it...

".....!"

A pleasant surprise welled up inside me.

The nights I remembered had always consisted of a single moon, a handful of stars, and the darkness of night.

But the sky before me was completely different.

There were simply an incredible number of stars.

Instead of a single moon, twelve moons stretched across the heavens.

Shooting stars crossed the sky every second, like groups of stars racing from one side to the other.

Entire constellations glittered across that vast black sky.

The sky was simply breathtaking.

There were no words capable of describing it.

’It’s beautiful.’

It looked like a night sky painted by a true artist, someone who had created the greatest masterpiece of their entire life.

As I gazed at the sky, marveling at it and completely losing myself in its beauty...

"Hey, ■■■■, the skewers are ready to eat."

Hearing a man’s voice, I noticed something particularly strange about his tone and accent.

’A Korean...’

He was Korean, speaking English, but his accent made the way he spoke particularly unique.

I turned my head.

Then I saw the man.

He was dressed in robes and a pointed hat as he held out a fish skewer toward me.

I unconsciously reached out and took the skewer. Then I took a bite and nodded.

"It’s delicious."

I murmured softly, prompting the man to respond immediately.

"Of course it was going to be delicious, ■■■■."

For some reason, whenever they said a name, perhaps mine in this life, the system simply distorted it.

Then, the woman sitting beside me lightly nudged me with her elbow and said:

"Just look at your face, ■■■■. Hahaha, you look like a kid who hasn’t eaten in days."

From her tone of voice, it was obvious that she was quite an irritating woman in many ways.

However, before I could say anything, another woman sitting on the other side of the campfire cut in:

"Cut the crap, you childish little idiot."

"Fuck you, bitch."

At the other woman’s shout, the one sitting beside me raised her middle finger and fired back in kind.

Seeing this, the man in the robes and pointed hat pointed at both of them and spoke in a stern tone:

"Keep shouting and insulting each other, and I’ll ban you from eating for the rest of the year."

His words were enough to make both of them fall silent instantly. They simply turned their heads away, probably puffing out their cheeks in obvious annoyance.

Meanwhile, a massively muscular man burst out laughing and addressed the man in the pointed hat:

"Pfft, hahaha. Hey, ■■■■, I wonder why you always act like their father. You’re the youngest of all of us, yet you act like an old man, hahaha."

"Shut the hell up or I’ll send you to the damn moon."

"Okay, okay, little skinny guy, hahaha."

"This is the last time I’m telling you, you bastard."

The muscular man simply waved a hand dismissively and then proceeded to devour five skewers.

Or rather, five abnormally large fish that had been pierced through with a half-meter-long branch.

".....!?"

"Damn it. Hey, musclehead, save some for later."

A short man complained when he saw him eating like that.

"Shut up, midget. Grow already, or those three old witches will keep talking behind your back."

"What? You fucking bastard, I’m not a midget. I just grew slower than everyone else."

"Blah, blah. Shut up, midget."

Just as the two began arguing, both the girl sitting beside me, the woman on the other side of the campfire, and a third woman shouted at the same time:

"What the hell did you say, bastard?"

"I’m not a witch, bitch."

"I’m not a witch, you fucking dumbass."

".....!"

All three of them reacted practically at the same time.

As I watched the strange argument unfold, I noticed that, sitting beside the man in the pointed hat, there was another man with his legs crossed in a lotus position.

He seemed to have been ignoring all the commotion until then.

However, perhaps unable to endure it any longer, he suddenly opened his mouth and shouted:

"Silence, you pair of idiots! Stop acting like children. We’re all so old that it’s ridiculous for us to still be arguing like this."

The moment he finished speaking, the three women directed all their anger toward him.

"Shut the fuck up, bastard!"

All three shouted at the same time.

The man immediately raised both hands.

"It was a joke, a joke. You know..."

Then, lowering his voice, he muttered:

"Damn witches."

"....!"

An incredible killing intent erupted from the three women.

The next instant, all three of them stood up and struck the man simultaneously.

Boom!

The impact was so brutal that it sent the man flying through the air.

His body pierced through the clouds, and the sheer force of the single blow split them in half.

".....!?"

I watched the scene in disbelief.

Seconds passed slowly as I remained silent, observing the interactions between everyone present.

At first glance, their personalities seemed far too different for them to form a group.

And yet, without needing to investigate anything, I knew it immediately.

These people weren’t just friends.

They were best friends.

Friends who seemed to be living in a completely isolated and lonely world.

Moreover, there didn’t seem to be a single human presence anywhere near this place.

’Are they the only humans in this place?’

As I wondered about this, the man in the pointed hat spoke again:

"Hey, ■■■■, you’ve been quiet this whole time. Is something wrong?"

At his question, everyone present turned their gazes toward me.

Feeling their eyes on me, I formed a faint smile before answering:

"It’s just... I like this atmosphere. Relaxed, without a single worry, with nothing to do except talk with friends."

As I said those words, I intuitively felt that their expressions had changed.

Although I couldn’t see their faces clearly, somehow, I could perfectly imagine what they were feeling.

"Yeah... It would be nice to live like this, wouldn’t it?"

The girl sitting beside me murmured softly.

And the moment I heard her voice, I understood that this moment must have been quite strange for all of them.

It was as if they almost never had the chance to sit around a campfire, chat peacefully, and simply have fun with their friends.

But then...

Suddenly, a notification appeared before my eyes.

"..."

〖Adel’s Second Fable has been activated〗

〖5 points of Causality are required to change the Result of the Dark Fate〗

〖Error. Insufficient Causality. Adel’s Second Fable cannot be used〗

〖.....〗

〖....〗

〖A ’Sacrifice’ has been detected. Causality has increased〗

〖Causality + 2〗

〖5 points of Causality have been consumed〗

〖Rewriting the Result of the Dark Fate from ’Death’ to ’Brink of Death’〗

〖The player’s consciousness is awakening〗

At the final moment, my vision turned completely black.

Then, I took one last look at the seven people.

Their figures gradually began to fade away until everything around me became completely blurred.